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Saturday, October 10, 2015

The LEGO® Group Helps Power Renewable Energy!

10.10.2015 – LEGO® has grown by leaps and bound to become the number one toy brand in the world. Beyond that LEGO® has become eco-friendly from child safety to reducing box-size in every set is getting their focus in growing as a company.

Now they also aim in renewable energy and they definitely put their hard earned money to give back in becoming also a company to be powered by natural energy.

The LEGO® group’s commitment to make a positive impact on the planet means that they aim to reduce carbon emissions through improving their energy efficiency and by generating renewable energy. They are now harnessing their share of wind power from the German wind farm Borkum Riffgrund 1, bringing us closer to our goal of becoming 100% renewable in 2020.

In this video below you’ll see how LEGO® is committed in using their energy efficiency and positive environment to the community and to their LEGO® play. Certainly this now beyond just a toy manufacturer and for the reason why The LEGO® brand is more than just plastic bricks and mini figures.

In October 2015, LEGO® has inaugurated the wind farm in the Borkum Riffgrund 1, which started producing electricity. The wind farm consists of 78 wind turbines, and our share of the wind farm can produce enough electricity to meet the needs of approximately 100,000 households annually.

”In the LEGO Group, we want to make a positive impact on the planet children will inherit. Our main contribution to society is our creative play experiences and their contribution to children's learning and development. Today, I am proud and literally energised to celebrate that the wind farm now generates renewable energy. It is a substantial step towards our 2020 goal to be 100% balanced by renewable energy. We will reach this by focusing on our energy efficiency, which has improved by more than 20% in the last five years, and by investing in renewable energy. These combined efforts mean that by 2020 we will produce more renewable energy than we use to manufacture the billions of LEGO bricks children all over the world love to play with.”

- Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, President and CEO of the LEGO Group, at the inauguration of the Borkum Riffgrund 1 wind farm.

Towards our 2020 goal and beyond

To reach our 2020 goal, we focus on achieving energy efficiency improvements by consuming the lowest possible amount of energy. We have taken several important steps that include upgrading our manufacturing equipment and cooling systems and making our buildings more energy efficient. We are also sourcing renewable energy to reach our goal of becoming 100% renewable. Our investment in the Borkum Riffgrund 1 wind farm is a part of our continuous commitment to balance our energy consumption with renewable energy production, and we will invest accordingly to reach our goal in the coming years – also beyond 2020.

Borkum Riffgrund 1

In 2012, KIRKBI A/S, who owns 75% of the LEGO Group, invested in the construction of the Borkum Riffgrund 1 wind farm and through KIRKBI A/S, the LEGO Group owns 31.5% of the wind farm. Borkum Riffgrund 1, which is located 54 km from shore and 37 km from the island of Borkum in Germany, is a joint venture project between DONG Energy (50%), KIRKBI A/S (31.5%) and William Demant Invest (18.5%). The wind farm, which occupies an area of 36 km2, is capable of generating up to 312 MW of electricity and will produce renewable energy equivalent to 320,000 households’ annual consumption and hence replace carbon emissive energy accordingly.